Name John Cameron | Role Farmer | |
John B. Cameron of Balbuthie CBE FRAgS is a Scottish farmer, with significant interest in railways.
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Farming
Widely credited as the one-time largest sheep farmer in Europe, Cameron owned seven farms in Fife and West Perthshire. He sold the five farms in Fife, covering 37,000 acres (150 km2), in 2006 to the Edinmore Group, a subsidiary of Caledonian Investments, while still retaining two farms in West Perthshire at Glen Lochay and Ivermearan.
Cameron is president of both the Scottish region of the National Beef Association and the National Sheep Association, and chairs the quality standards committee of Quality Meat Scotland. A former President of the National Farmers Union of Scotland, Cameron is a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society, and was awarded a CBE for his work in Scottish farming.
Railways
Cameron was the Chairman of ScotRail and a member of the British Railways Board from 1990 to 1996. Between 1967 and 1992 he was the owner/operator of the Lochty Private Railway. A non-executive director of Stagecoach Group, he is currently a Director of both South West Trains and the Island Line, Isle of Wight; as well as a Member of the Safety Review Group. He is also the President of the Gresley Society.
Cameron has a personal interest in steam railways, and owns two former LNER locomotives:
Personal life
Married to South African-born Margaret, the couple live at the 400-acre (1.6 km2) Balbuthie Farm in St Monans, Fife and maintain a cottage on the shores of Lake Malawi.
In 2007, Cameron and his wife set up the Cameron Travel Scholarship Trust, to allow both Scottish agricultural students and those studying at the Dollar Academy in Dollar, Clackmannanshire, to travel abroad for the purpose of broadening their education and understanding of the world." He was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the school, where he himself was educated, until relinquishing office in 2014.